


Love For a Daughter

by VJR22_6



Series: Mallard-McQuack Fam Fluff [1]
Category: Darkwing Duck (Cartoon 1991)
Genre: Adoption, Family Fluff, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 11:51:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20358034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VJR22_6/pseuds/VJR22_6
Summary: Launchpad loves his family more than anything in the world. Drake, the stars to his moon, and Gosalyn, the sun that outshines them both. There's really nothing better, he thinks, than the memories he makes with them.





	Love For a Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sort-of prequel to my Gosalyn-centric work Restless, and the ending to this is the story in that one. I also have a Drake-centric sequel set after both of them I'm working on, which will be up in a few days. Thanks for reading!

Launchpad falls for Darkwing Duck before they meet. It’s only a crush, really, but it’s strong as a crush can be. That’s why he builds the Thunderquack and starts collecting newspaper clippings, quietly pining for his hero. Then, Darkwing crashes through his roof, and everything changes.

He loves adventuring with his hero. It’s fun from the get-go, punching and trapping villains and solving mysteries. But that’s half of what happens that really flips his world upside down; it’s learning who Drake Mallard is that really does him in. Drake who can’t cook and laughs at his own jokes and would do anything for his little girl, that’s what Launchpad really falls in love with.

He loves Gosalyn, too, as much as he loves Drake, but in a softer way. Drake needs reassurance when things go wrong, needs bandages on battle wounds, needs a partner. Gos needs the kind of love and guidance kids do, from encouragements when she’s trying something new to cheering at her sporting events to being tucked into bed after long days of play. Drake needs a hand up when he’s been knocked down in battle, and Gos needs help with her math homework. He loves them both so much, and will do anything for them.

So, when he marries Drake, of course he starts the long process to adopt Gosalyn.

Their spunky girl is the moon to Launchpad’s stars, so bright and beautiful. It takes months, but it’s worth waiting for to officially tie their little family together. That gives him time to make her a present, too, so she’ll have something that will always remind her that he loves her as much as any father could love a daughter, blood or not.

The present, a quilt for Gos’ bed, turns out to be harder to make than he’d hoped. He’s spent most of his life building planes and flying them. It should be easy for him to craft this soft little thing, but no. The stitches just aren’t tight or come unraveled as he works on them or the old fabric scraps tear while he’s sewing.

Still, he practices until he gets it right. He spends a fair number of late nights with needle and thread under his bedside lamp, and learns. He’s taken every shirt she’s grown out of or torn and cut neat squares from each. He does his best to make each one unique, just like the girl herself. He takes a piece from her old hockey sweater, the one she tore when she caught her sleeve on something, and one from a baseball jersey she’s too big to wear anymore. He cuts the DW from one of Drake’s tees, an embroidered airplane from one of his. Slowly, the basket of rags and discarded clothes becomes something wonderful and new.

He adds a back made of smooth purple fabric, folding the edges of the sheet over to make a thick border. It takes him almost three weeks of working every day, but he gets it done, and presents it to his little girl after dinner one night.

“Whataya think, Gos-a-roonie?” He hands his work over, and she grins like the Cheshire cat. “It’s awesome! Is that my old baseball shirt? I love it!”

He ruffles her hair as she points out different patches, recognizing the stories behind them. Drake, across the kitchen table from them, watches with that soft, loving smile. LP shoots him a smile of his own, and grabs a manila envelope off the counter. “I have somethin’ else for you.”

“Yeah?” She asks excitedly, throwing the quilt around her shoulders like a cape. He pulls the official paper from inside, and shows it to her without a word. He’s doesn’t know if he’d be able to say anything if he wanted to; her wide eyes and gasp of delight are everything.

“Launchpad!” She practically screams, and jumps into his arms. He cuddles her close, her fluffy red hair tickling his beak. He closes his eyes and holds her tight. He loves that title. Loves her, too, so much.

Drake joins them after a minute. Launchpad hugs them both for a long, long moment, wondering how in the world he’s ended up with the most wonderful people in the world as his family.

Gosalyn takes that quilt to bed that night, and every night after. She drags it next door when she sleeps over with her best friend, and on bad nights, will bring it with her to snuggle into Drake and Launchpad’s bed after a nightmare. Every time he sees it, Launchpad’s reminded of the memories he sewed into it. Of pinky promises, playing in the backyard, band-aids on skinned knees and kisses-better. He knows she is, too; he hears her telling guests about this or that patch on multiple occasions. This one used to be a band t-shirt, her Dad still makes her listen to that “old people music” sometimes. Or that one, it used to be one of her warm sweaters until she stained it with hot cocoa.

One night, maybe six months after she gets the quilt, they have a movie marathon. Drake left for a SHUSH assignment yesterday, and he knows she’s stressed without him to tuck her in. He can do it himself, but really, that’s Drake’s thing, singing her to sleep. He’s not sure she’d want him to, anyway.

Instead, she drags her quilt down to the couch, they put on a couple of old horror movies, and he makes popcorn. They stay up pretty late, since it’s Saturday night, and really, the movies aren’t scary. There’s one bit where they jump and spill the snacks, but he can clean up after he gets her to bed. It’s not long after that part that she starts nodding off, anyway. She must be comfortable, usually she’ll fight falling asleep if they let her stay up any later than bedtime.

He scoops her up as the credits roll, and she’s nothing but a warm weight in his arms. He tucks her into bed, snug inside her quilt, and whispers goodnight. She murmurs back, barely awake, “Night, Launchdad.”

He kisses her forehead, slips out the door, and tries so hard not to cry as he heads back downstairs. Launchdad? He really believed he couldn’t love his little mischief-maker more than he does, and here they are.

He cleans up the spilled popcorn, turns the TV off, and tries to wrap his mind around this development. He knows she’s been referring to him and Drake as her dads, plural, for a little while, but she’d still been calling him by his name. He turns all the lights off, makes sure the doors are locked, and calls Drake as he heads into their dark bedroom.

His love picks up on the second ring, and he can hear the smile in his voice. “Hey, LP, how’s it going?”

“Hey, sweetheart,” he murmurs, her goodnight still ringing in his head. “I just got Gosalyn off to bed. We watched a couple of movies.”

“Wish I could be there,” his static-laced reply comes through. It’s heavy with regret; the call was last minute, and he wouldn’t have left if they weren’t desperate. Gos was anxious and upset every time he so much as mentioned packing, and teared up at the airport when they saw him off. “How’s she doing?”

“Better, I think. She had a hard time focusing on her homework, but other than that, she’s doing alright.”

“That’s good,” he replies. “We staked out this place last night-this morning for you guys, I mean-and we’re going back in two days to bring them down. Then we have to do it over again at three other places. I want to keep people safe but this is just so slow!”

“Best ta do it by the book, DW,” Launchpad murmurs, wanting to be by his side. Without his partner, Darkwing tends to overestimate his ability. Hopefully whatever SHUSH agents that needed help will be able to keep him safe. He shakes his head, trying to keep from worrying. “She called me Dad when I put her to bed.”

“She what?” He asks. It’s tinged with curiosity. He sighs. “Gosalyn, when I put her to bed, she was falling asleep. I said goodnight and she said, ‘Night, Launchdad.’”

“That’s sweet,” he declares. “Our daughter’s perfect, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she is,” he swallows his happy tears, and instead tells his love, “so are you. I miss you.”

“I miss you too. I can’t wait until I’m with you guys again.”

“Aw, Darkwing,” he murmurs. His heart feels like it’s about to burst, maybe, thinking of his family again. He says goodnight, hangs up, and heads to bed feeling like the luckiest duck in the world.


End file.
